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Monday, 12 January 2015

Unity through Diversity Equals Cultural Death

Guest post by Olivia Pierson

Cultural pluralism is as old as the hills – or at least as old as the Babylonian Empire on whose riverbank shores even the captive Jews were tolerated to sit and weep. Multiculturalism, on the other hand, is a 20th Century bastardisation of tolerance, which the United Nations invented to socially engineer Western democracies to cope with overwhelming immigration, mostly from Third World slave-pens. The pious and politically correct preachers of “diversity” and “equality” raised multiculturalism in the West to the status of a new religion, as if the world needed yet another one of those.

With the truth emerging after murderous events in Paris, can there still be any doubt that multiculturalism has epically failed in the West? In the last five years Angela Merkel has admitted its failure; so have Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron.

But how has it failed so?

Multiculturalism is a modern liberal tenet which states that all cultures are equal regardless of the diverse practices of each culture. This should not be confused with cultural pluralism which holds that all citizens, no matter what culture they hail from, are equal before the laws of the land –the one host culture. The host culture is necessarily dominant, hence being the yearly recipient of hundreds of thousands of immigrants bidding farewell to their homelands.

Europe threw open its gates to open immigration back in the late 1960s. By 1974 trade between East and West was an imperative-- it was oil of course; rich, dark, copious oil, a feature of life-enhancing benefit to the West. The reciprocal of this bargain, aside from money, was immigration, a feature of life-enhancing benefit to the East. Thus began the Euro-Arab dialogue adopted throughout member States of the new European Union - only multiculturalism did not require that those immigrants assimilate into European life and parallel communities with their own laws (Sharia) were allowed to rise: non-Muslim no-go zones. The liberal policy-makers left themselves no moral room to assert the rightful dominance of the central ideas that their own civilizations were built on – namely, their emancipated women and sexual freedoms, their protection of individual rights, their freedom of speech and of the press, their commitment to scientific inquiry and their separation of religion and state.

Multiculturalism’s emphasis on ‘diversity’ is itself a preoccupation with ethnic difference and therefore an insidiously accepted form of patronisation along racial lines. As one commentator once put it: multiculturalism’s unspoken legacy is Have-a-Nice-Day Racism.

America, the founding democratic nation of the Free World, was always populated by immigrants – “We, the People” came from every corner of the globe, lured by the protective nature of the famous Constitution overseeing a magnificent mass of available land. They built their own towns; they followed their own religions. From Judaism to Mormonism creed became irrelevant as trade became paramount. By the time the 1860 administration of Abraham Lincoln was elected, America was a prosperous, culturally plural nation except for the disgraceful stain of black slavery - but even this heinous wrong was to be put right. Lincoln’s one and only stated purpose throughout the Civil War was to uphold the Union by putting down the Southern rebellion, which threatened to “diversify” America into two totally separate Federations; the result of his desire to keep national integrity was the end of the feudal South and the beginning of black autonomy. As a statesman, Lincoln’s great conviction held that the country’s immense strength lay in its unity not its diversity; after all, diversity had been a given all along.

The modern catchphrase “Unity through Diversity” is fatuous in every respect that it is used. People from different cultures do not unite over their differences and shouldn’t be expected to – that’s called Freedom. They unite over their commonalities such as trade, earning a living, their children’s friendships, similar recreational hobbies or a common purpose. These things bring people into contact with one another on the basis of shared values. Immigrants in host nations also unify through adopting one national identity and being equal before the law – the law of the new country.

It is time for leaders to stop talking mindless multicultie nonsense in the face of disgraceful Muslim atrocities. Western civilization has upheld the best ideas for human flourishing the world has ever seen, and we ought to be proud of them; they’ve been hard won by our forefathers. This means not tolerating microstates and parallel communities where wife-bashing, rape, honour killing, genital mutilation and violent jihad are practiced every day with impunity. These are the diversities of a culture incompatible with our own, and if we can’t get our heads around that fact the ignoble legacy to be bestowed upon our children and grandchildren is cultural death.

Talking about a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam is clearly stating that the Islam in itself is not about fanatism, blood and terror but a branch of it is growing in that direction - the vast majority of muslims around the world are amazing and peaceful beings. Our work as liberty defenders and evolution proponents is not to gag or reject peaceful muslims, who have the right to think what they think and live wherever they wish to, but curb this mutation (largely encouraged - and financed - by political agendas from the 'West') and help the global muslim community to fight against this deadly mutation in its heart (as we have to act with any other religious small group who kill, like jewish or christian affiliated...) without stigmatizing a whole community.

Thanks Sandrine for that enlightenment. I'm not aware of Jews and Christians wandering about shooting people in the offices, kidnapping children for sex and using 10 year olds as suicide bombers because some moron took offence at something. Clearly I'm not up with the news, perhaps you could enlighten me as to the tsunami of non Muslim violence sweeping the world.

This is why it is common sense to have strict immigration policy. Libertarians don't seem to get that the more liberal & PC your immigration policy is, the more problems you will face from multiculturalism.

So you have never heard about christians bombings and killings in the name of? Christians paedophilia proponents, mass shootings, kidnappings, bombings of pro abortion clinicians, sabra and shatila... All the obscurantism... Of course it happened, but christians are evolving toward a more peaceful community, day by day.

Jewish bombings and killings in the name of? Right, sionism and its murderers are a tale perhaps? But many jews (the vast majority!) is not killing anyone!

Then if you never heard about them, change the medias you read and listen to. Open the archives of our history. There are plenty of exemples.I cannot do that research for you.

@Eric: Get your head out of your arse. These murderers were not immigrants, they were locally-born.

And even so, it is not the case that a person's ideas may never change. That is to suggest we have no choice about the ideas to which we subscribe, by which you mean we have no free will.

The problem is emphatically not immigration, it is that multiculturalism silences the promotion of the very western culture that peaceful immigrants have moved to the west to seek. (And if those in favour of western values seem so coy about promotoing them is it any wonder that those new to those values might proive less than enthusiastic themselves?)

As Thomas Sowell says in his book 'Conquests and Culture,' "Cultures are not museum-pieces. They are the working machinery of everyday life. Unlike objects of aesthetic contemplation, working machinery is judged by how well it works, compared to the alternatives. The judgement that matters it not the judgement of observers and theorists, but the judgement implicit in millions of individual decisions to retain or abandon particular cultural practices, decisions made by those who personally benefit or who personally pay the price of inefficiency and obsolescence. That price is not always paid in money but may range from inconveniences to death."

In silencing the promotion of western culture, or even a decent understanding of what western culture means, multiculturalism discourages new immigrants embracing it -- and the price paid for that has proved to be very high.

Peter, my head is in the right place. Yours however, is firmly planted in the sand.

Your reply is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about: Desperate mental gymnastics trying to rationalise the futile argument that multiculturalism and its problems are not caused or exacerbated by liberal immigration policies.

The nutters in the recent attack were locally born. So what? Islamic fundamentalists move to France, join the local Islamic community/ghetto, and have children who become French Islamic fundamentalists. If you can't see how immigration is still a crucial part of that equation, then you have an intellectual blind spot you could drift a bus through.

It is not the case that a person's ideas may never change. But in the real world, they seldom do. Especially in regard to religious fundamentalists.

Mass immigration would ensure larger Islamic communities and more fundamentalists. And if you're naïve enough to believe that simply promoting western culture would make a lick of difference then it's no wonder the Libz have had such a tough time convincing people to vote for them.

*the vast majority of muslims around the world are amazing and peaceful beings*

@ SandrineMutation? I think not.Islam (which is a politically ideology with a smattering of religious thought) is not in the hands of its "amazing and peaceful" beings, it is in the hands of its fantatics, and while it remains thus, it deserves all lovers of liberty to hold it in contempt. When it ceases to be a political influence, like Christianity once was, it can take the status of just a religion, but Islam is nowhere near that status, it is still stuck in the Dark Ages where theocracy holds sway, not democracy.

That's silly - hate to be the one to tell you, but there's just you. Don't be an intellectual cripple leaning on the nonsense of religion. If there is to be another Crusade, and it looks as though there will be, it only has a chance of being won on the basis of Secularism - for she possesses the most noble ideas. Christianity was defanged by the Enlightenment, and only has a pass from that point on. All religion is irrational superstition and capable of keeping us in a Dark Age. It is we humans who make or break the beauty of the world.

@Cresswell*The problem is emphatically not immigration, it is that multiculturalism silences the promotion of the very western culture that peaceful immigrants have moved to the west to seek. (And if those in favour of western values seem so coy about promotoing them is it any wonder that those new to those values might proive less than enthusiastic themselves?)As Thomas Sowell says in his book 'Conquests and Culture,' "Cultures are not museum-pieces. They are the working machinery of everyday life. Unlike objects of aesthetic contemplation, working machinery is judged by how well it works, compared to the alternatives. The judgement that matters it not the judgement of observers and theorists, but the judgement implicit in millions of individual decisions to retain or abandon particular cultural practices, decisions made by those who personally benefit or who personally pay the price of inefficiency and obsolescence. That price is not always paid in money but may range from inconveniences to death."In silencing the promotion of western culture, or even a decent understanding of what western culture means, multiculturalism discourages new immigrants embracing it -- and the price paid for that has proved to be very high.*

That is exactly it! Very well put. All the peaceful Muslims who multiculturalism takes such great pains to appear to be on the side of, are not protected in the slightest by multiculturalism's creed, in fact they are endangered by it. The price for all this shit is set at the highest possible cost - death of one individual or group of individuals at a time, as in the Paris massacre, or Australia, or the US, or Nigeria, or Iraq, or Syria, or Germany, or London, or Bali etc etc.

One of things I admire most about Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli spirit, given where they exist, is that if Israeli blood is shed they extract a very high price for that blood - knowing the value his citizens. That's a leader who understand what it means to protect his people. He deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Unlike Hamas, who use their "citizens" as martyrs, utterly expendable in the cause of Allah.

"One of things I admire most about Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli spirit, given where they exist, is that if Israeli blood is shed they extract a very high price for that blood - knowing the value his citizens."

Well you can admire someone who murders children in the name of religion and ideology if you like, but meh.

"if Israeli blood is shed they extract a very high price for that blood"

In other words "kill one of our citizens and we'll kill 100 (or 1000) of yours." I thought 'Objectivists' placed supreme value on individual rights. But this obviously doesn't apply to the individual rights of innocent Palestinians.

Israel is also the biggest welfare state in history, receiving over $1 trillion and counting from US taxpayers.

*But this obviously doesn't apply to the individual rights of innocent Palestinians.*

According to their own government, in partnership with Hamas, who 8 years ago, by way of the innocent Palestinian "vote", added crucifixion to their list of useful capital punishments. If your heart bleeds for them so much, maybe you should look harder at the source of their dissatisfaction and wise up a bit. Israel is the least of their problems.

Israel IS the least of their problems, in fact it would be their saviour if their own religious dictates did not make war upon them. Chaz, you only ever ask the wrong questions, which proves you have not done your own homework and you don't really give a damn either way.

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